IRVING, Texas – Baylor women’s basketball earned several postseason accolades from the Big 12 on Monday, highlighted by Darianna Littlepage-Buggs collecting the league’s Freshman of the Year award.
Sarah Andrews was named to the All-Big 12 First Team, while Caitlin Bickle landed a spot on the second team and Littlepage-Buggs earned an honorable mention. Additionally, Bickle was tabbed a Big 12 All-Defensive Team pick, while Littlepage-Buggs and Bella Fontleroy were voted unanimous Big 12 All-Freshman Team selections.
Voted the unanimous Big 12 Freshman of the Year after a stellar rookie campaign, Littlepage-Buggs is the fourth Baylor Bear to earn the distinction and first to receive it since Nina Davis in 2014, also joining Odyssey Sims and Brittney Griner on the list. She earned eight Freshman of the Week laurels this season, which is the second-most awarded to an individual in the conference since 2009.
Littlepage-Buggs turned in 14 double-doubles, including 10 in league play, and leads all rookies in Division I in rebounding with 9.5 per game. Additionally, she picked up an all-conference honorable mention and was a unanimous Big 12 All-Freshman Team selection.
After landing a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team last season, Andrews played her way onto the 11-person first team this year. She reached double-figure scoring in 15 of 18 Big 12 games with 20-plus point performances in six of those contests with a career-best 30-point outpouring in a top-25 win on the road at Oklahoma. With her selection, Baylor has had representation on the All-Big 12 First Team every year since 2004.
For the first time in her five-year career, Bickle earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team, as well as the Big 12 All-Defensive Team. Bickle logged six double-doubles on the year, including five in conference play, while turning in her first-career 30-piece against Oklahoma. The forward finished in double figures on the glass on 10 occasions and is one of the only players in the No. 5 position in the country shooting 50% from the floor, 40% from 3-point range and 80% from the free throw line this season.
A two-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week, Fontleroy made an appearance in all 30 games for the Bears this season, starting the last 11 games heading into the postseason and 13 total as a true freshman. Fontleroy has logged 15 double-digit performances and has three double-doubles on the year, including two in Big 12 action. The selections of Fontleroy and Littlepage-Buggs to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team marks the first time a BU rookie has been named to the team since 2018 and the first time two Bears have earned a spot since 2016.
Baylor enters the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship as the No. 6 seed and will face No. 3-seeded Iowa State on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. The game is available for streaming via Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
